*This* is how to tell when it’s time to get your brows done

I don’t know about you, but I never realize that my eyebrows need fine-tuning until it’s, well, pretty late in the game and they resemble something akin to the fuzziest caterpillars I’ve ever seen. It’s as if suddenly, all-at-once, my unwanted hairs sprout up in bushy, wide rectangles over my eyes—without a semblance of an arch in sight.

So…yeah, needless to say I don’t know how often I should be doing my brows. Is it a monthly thing? Bi-annual? Er, help! To get to the bottom of this, I consulted bicoastal brow guru Jimena Garcia for the 411. Turns out that it’s not totally cut and dried—but there are signs to look for when figuring out how often to maintain your brows.

“Everyone has a different time frame as to how often they should get their brows shaped,” says Garcia. “Brows grow in hair cycles. Typically they’ll start to grow between 4 and 8 weeks until they start to fully sprout.”

“Typically they’ll start to grow between 4 and 8 weeks until they start to fully sprout.”

According to Garcia, there are three phases of the hair cycle that take place over this timeframe, and you’ll know when it’s time to pluck or wax when all the hairs reach the same length. “Giving time for the hair to go through these stages is very important,” she says. “Letting the brows fully grow out all together and be removed all together is key so that each strand doesn’t wind up in different cycles.” Once you get the hairs on the same timeframe, you can ensure that they grow in evenly—rather than randomly—so managing them is much easier.

This means you might have to spend a little time getting used to the bushiness to ensure things are ready to be plucked, but hey—Cara Delevingne looks great.

Just as with your regular hair, however, everyone’s strands grows at different speeds. “Some clients only need to come in 2 to 3 times a year since their hair grows much slower,” she says. However, she finds that 5 to 6 weeks tends to be the true sweet spot for most people.

In between appointments, there are some tricks you can do to make it look like your brows are on point. “While your brow hair’s in different stages and you start to see a little brow mess, it’s good to have a highlighter to swipe on top of the strays,” she says. “It gives a nice glow in the area and distracts from looking unruly. You could call it shaggy chic.”

If you’d rather have the hair gone, Garcia recommends using a super small brow razor to go over unwanted hair. “This way you’re not pulling from the root and not affecting the brow growth,” she says. This will make it easier to get things in shape later on.